The dispute is over an 8-acre property that the nuns have been living in since 1972. They sold the estate in 2015 because they claim they were being kicked out by the L.A. archdiocese. Because they had bought it in 1972, they felt they could sell the property and use the money for their organization and to find new housing.

The Los Angeles Archbishop, Jose Gomez, disagreed. He claimed the property was owned by the Catholic Church and they had the right to sell the property and keep the profits. The buyer from the Vatican is Katy Perry. The Catholic Church sued the nuns and the original sale was halted and the nuns were legally required to pay millions in legal fees to both the Catholic Church and Katy Perry.

Not only did the nuns argue they were legally entitled the profits from the sale, but they did not want the property to be sold to the pop singer, who they felt represented everything they stood against. Holzman had criticized Perry during the trial saying “it’s not doing anyone any good except hurting a lot of people.” The nuns bought the property for $100,000. They were planning to sell it for $15.6 million dollars.